Halfway Down the Stairs

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

NEXT!

Even though I haven't technically finished any of my other sweaters, I am casting this on this week. I had to rip 4 inches of my Gathered Pullover, Rivulets is waiting patiently for a length decision, I finished a pair of socks, I NEED to cast on something new - just for the joy of it. So there. (Petulant much?)

Monday, February 23, 2009

Note: This is a VERY fine fingering yarn. Much finer than my usual. The pattern is easy and really cute - now I'm just hoping they fit my swappee. I tried to match the color progression, but it did not work very well. I still think they're pretty - hope my swappee likes them!

Sweater progress. I'm still plugging away at my Rivulets and my other sweater projects. I'm hoping to have an accessory to help me with the photographs later this week.

We snuck away to the cabin this weekend - watched a little bit of the Birkie, had some Prime Rib for dinner on Saturday night and made our way home to watch the Wild play last night. I wish those boys played like that more often.

Monday, February 16, 2009

1) Bold the books you have already read2) Italicize the books you intend to read3) Notes in parentheses next to note-worthy titles.

1) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen2) The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien3) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte4) Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling5) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee6) The Bible7) Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte 8 ) Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell 9) His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman10) Great Expectations by Charles Dickens11) Little Women by Louisa May Alcott12) Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy13) Catch 22 by Joseph Heller14) Complete Works of Shakespeare (some - but certainly not ALL - I'm with Cursing Mama)15) Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier16) The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien17) Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks18 ) Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger19) The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger20) Middlemarch by George Eliot21) Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell22) The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald23) Bleak House by Charles Dickens24) War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (condensed version)25) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams26) Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh27) Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky28 ) Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck29) Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll30) The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame31) Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy32) David Copperfield by Charles Dickens33) Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis34) Emma by Jane Austen35) Persuasion by Jane Austen36) The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by CS Lewis37) The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini38 ) Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis De Bernieres39) Memories of a Geisha by Arthur Golden40) Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne41) Animal Farm by George Orwell42) The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown 43) One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez 44) A Prayer for Owen Meaney by John Irving45) The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins46) Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery47) Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy48 ) The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood49) Lord of the Flies by William Golding50) Atonement by Ian McEwan51) Life of Pi by Yann Martel52) Dune by Frank Herbert53) Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons54) Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen55) A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth56) The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon57) A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens58 ) Brave New World by Aldous Huxley59) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon60) Love In The Time Of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez61) Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck62) Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov63) The Secret History by Donna Tartt64) The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold65) Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas66) On The Road by Jack Kerouac67) Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy68 ) Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding69) Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie70) Moby Dick by Herman Melville71) Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens72) Dracula by Bram Stoker73) The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett74) Notes From A Small Island by Bill Bryson75) Ulysses by James Joyce76) The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath77) Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome78 ) Germinal by Emile Zola79) Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray80) Possession by AS Byatt81) A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens82) Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell83) The Color Purple by Alice Walker 84) The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro85) Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert86) A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry87) Charlotte's Web by EB White88 ) The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom89) Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle90) The Faraway Tree Collection by Enid Blyton91) Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad92) The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery93) The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks94) Watership Down by Richard Adams95) A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole96) A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute97) The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas98 ) Hamlet by William Shakespeare99) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl100) Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

So just a titch over half of these books I have read! It's a weird list - I don't know very many people that have read the whole bible.

Now, I have to get my hands on the new issue of Yarn Forward magazine (any ideas where I can find it in town?), but I have some yarn in my stash that will be perfect for this sweater (some Beaverslide in red!) - Copine by Shannon Okey.

Then, I received my Spring '09 IK yesterday and this cardi on the cover is a perfect Spring cover-up. Maybe in some nice yellow Louisa Harding I have in the stash? Or I have some Blue Moon Fiber Arts Peru in a beautiful teal blue color called Spinel, that would knit up beautifully into this Diminishing Rib Cardigan.Lastly, I just stumbled on this pattern in somebody else's Favorites yesterday, but those cables look like fun!This is the Ethel Mildred Ferguson Sweater (Rav link) from the Family Trunk Project by Emily Johnson. This pattern is not even available yet - she's still test knitting it - but I'm first in line to pick this up! I've got some great Berroco that will work for this in a nice marled grey.

In the meantime, Go Gophers! (Cause the Wild just keep breakin' my heart.)

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Ooops.

So, I know I'm lame. I have not posted in ages, just ages. But you moms know what it's like. I've had one kid after the other down with the Flu. I don't mean a gross tummy virus, I mean Influenza. And it's not the one that they vaccinated for either, it's that rogue one they've been talking about. There have been days where I've just wanted to lay my head down on my keyboard and cry (I really only did it yesterday and that was because my husband and cherubs neglected my birthday. I was sad.)

Funny story? I do have one. The Hockey Team Coach lost his little carry-case of water bottles used for the bench. Our Team Manager sent an email reminding us all to send water with our players tonight and then she apologized by saying this:

"Sorry for the incontinence."

Snrk. I think she meant inconvenience, but....snrk.

So. What I have been doing is knitting, there are socks on the needles, there are two sweaters on the needles, there is an FO and new yarn in the house! My cuticles are drying up and peeling off - does anyone else have that problem working with fiber? So I started Rivulets, and really, the charting is not as intimidating as Shannon Okey made it sound.

I have this beautiful, fat, bouncy Alpaca/Silk blend and I have already knit down to the little pleats in back (I took this photo a couple days ago.) I may leave the "squiggles" off of the bottom of the pleats - I'm thinking about leaving the cable off of the sleeves as well - I like sleek sleeves.

My mom and my sister remembered my birthday and next week I should have a lovely assistant to help me model my finished sweaters! In the meantime - I have to hit the road to go and get the locks sheared. Tomorrow I will show you a photo of Ingenue blocking! (Woot!)

Thursday, February 05, 2009

CM added a ruleif I've done something, but want to do it again: bold & italicize

1. Started your own blog.2. Slept under the stars.3. Played in a band. (Flute 5-9th grade.)4. Visited Hawaii.5. Watched a meteor shower.6. Given more than you can afford to charity.7. Been to Disneyland.8. Climbed a mountain.9. Held a praying mantis.10. Sang a solo.11. Bungee jumped.12. Visited Paris.13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.15. Adopted a child.16. Had food poisoning.17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty.18. Grown your own vegetables.19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.20. Slept on an overnight train.21. Had a pillow fight.22. Hitch hiked.23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill.(Mental Health Days.)24. Built a snow fort.25. Held a lamb.26. Gone skinny dipping.27. Run a marathon.28. Ridden a gondola in Venice.29. Seen a total eclipse.30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.31. Hit a home run.32. Been on a cruise.33. Seen Niagara Falls in person.34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors. 35. Seen an Amish community.36. Taught yourself a language.37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied.38. Seen the leaning tower of Pisa in person.39. Gone rock climbing.40. Seen Michelangelo's David in person.41. Sung karaoke.42. Seen Old Faithful (geyser) erupt.43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant.44. Visited Africa.45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.46. Been transported in an ambulance.47. Had your portrait painted.48. Gone deep sea fishing.49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person.50. Been to the top of the Eiffel tower in Paris. 51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling.52. Kissed in the rain.53. Played in the mud. (I have not outgrown this.)54. Gone to a drive-in theater.55. Been in a movie. (How about a commercial or two?)56. Visited the Great Wall of China.57. Started a business.58. Taken a martial arts class.59. Visited Russia.60. Served at a soup kitchen.61. Sold Girl Scout cookies.62. Gone whale watching.63. Gotten flowers for no reason.64. Donated blood.65. Gone sky diving.66. Visited a Nazi concentration camp.67. Bounced a check. (We were all young once, right?)68. Flown in a helicopter.69. Saved a favorite childhood toy.70. Visited the Lincoln memorial.71. Eaten caviar. (Yum)72. Pieced a quilt.73. Stood in Times Square.74. Toured the Everglades. (At night, shinin' gators, with my kids!)75. Been fired from a job.76. Seen the changing of the guard in London.77. Broken a bone.78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.80. Published a book.81. Visited the Vatican.82. Bought a brand new car.83. Walked in Jerusalem.84. Had your picture in the newspaper.85. Read the entire bible.86. Visited the White House.87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.88. Had chickenpox.89. Saved someone's life.90. Sat on a jury.91. Met someone famous.(David Cassidy, Johnny Mathis, The Nelson Twins...)92. Joined a book club.93. Lost a loved one.94. Had a baby.95. Seen the Alamo in person.96. Taken a road trip.97. Been involved in a law suit.98. Owned a cell phone.99. Been stung by a bee.100. Met the love of your life.

Monday, February 02, 2009

I'd hate to miss all the poetry, but I'm rather a child at heart so this is mine:

The Island

If I had a ship,I'd sail my ship,I'd sail my shipThrough Eastern seas;Down to a beach where the slow waves thunder-The green curls over and the white falls under-Boom! Boom! Boom!On the sun-bright sand.Then I'd leave my ship and I'd land,And climb the steep white sand.

And climb to the trees,The six dark trees,The coconut trees on the cliff's green crown-Hands and kneesto the coconut trees,Face to the cliff as the stones patter down,Up, up, up, staggering and stumbling,Round the corner where the rock is crumbling,Round this shoulder,Over this boulder,Up to the top where the six trees stand....

And there would I rest, and lie,My chin in my hands, and gazeAt the dazzle of sand below,And the green waves curling slow,and the grey-blue distant hazeWhere the sea goes up to the sky....

And I'd say to myself as I looked so lazily down at the sea:"There's nobody else in the world, and the world was made for me."

About Me

I am a 49 year old SAHM (going on 9 years now). I have two teenagers, and a wonderful DH who underwrites this whole project************************
My childhood:
Halfway down the stairs Is a stair Where I sit. There isn't any Other stair Quite like It. I'm not at the bottom, I'm not at the top; So this is the stair Where I always Stop. Halfway up the stairs Isn't up, And isn't down. It isn't in the nursery, It isn't in the town. And all sorts of funny thoughts Run round my head: "It isn't really Anywhere! It's somewhere else Instead!" a.a. Milne